1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for searching a device on a network.
2. Related Background Art
Directly service has been provided so far as a method for efficiently finding various resources (including a printer and a scanner) on a network to use them. The directory service is, so to speak, a telephone directory for a network, which is used to store various pieces of information. LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is a specific example of a directory system. LDAP rules is described in RFC 1777 issued by IETF. By using the directory service and thereby searching a device connected to a network, it is possible to obtain a list of network addresses of devices usable on the network.
In the case of the above conventional art, however, when designating various attributes to search a device or when designating various attributes such as presence or absence of a staple function or presence or absence of double-sided screen print and searching a device by using a network printer, only a device completely matching with search conditions including these attributes is searched and shown to a user.
Therefore, when a device completely matching with input search conditions is not present on a network, a problem occurs that re-search must be performed by re-inputting search conditions in which designation of attributes is moderated. Moreover, when a device completely matching with search conditions is not present in re-search, a problem occurs that it is necessary to perform search again by re-inputting search conditions in which designation of attributes is further moderated.